Cronología de la muerte

Capítulo 1

The Sunken Fish, by Cai Jun

Synopsis:

A group of twelve from San Francisco are preparing to travel to the Lanna Kingdom, but their leader, Chen Bibi, dies mysteriously before departure. The journey continues, with Chen Bibi's spirit accompanying them. Along the way, amidst the clash of Eastern and Western cultures, they experience various bizarre events. Later, they are kidnapped by a tribe deep in the jungle, and one of the tourists, a boy, is regarded by the tribe as the reincarnation of their savior…

Suspense writer Cai Jun collaborates with Amy Tan for the first time to translate and write this book. Two literary masters from the East and West Chinese world join forces to take you on a journey through the Kingdom of Lanna and experience a thrilling supernatural adventure!

Preface to "The Sunken Fish" (Cai Jun) (1)

This book is a novel. All names, characters, places, and events in the book are fictional and created by the author. Any resemblance to real people, companies, places, or events is purely coincidental.

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Two years ago, in the early morning, I had a strange dream. I dreamt I arrived in a tropical land with golden pagodas, monks in yellow robes, dilapidated ancient palaces, and war elephants clad in iron armor. I unexpectedly became the monarch of this country, revered by my subjects as "RAJA." In the dream, I seemed omniscient and omnipotent; the entire history of this country unfolded before my eyes. I could command thousands of troops as king, and I could also delve into the heart of a farmer to experience his life and love. After conquering countless countries and peoples in the south, this country mysteriously vanished, ultimately disappearing into a "nameless land" entwined with vines.

This dream has haunted me, even inspiring me to conceive a novel with a strange title, *RAJARAJA* (RAJA is an ancient South Asian and Southeast Asian term for monarchs). A few months ago, when I received the basic translation manuscript of Amy Tan's new book, *The Sunken Fish*, I discovered that my bizarre dream from two years ago was already hidden within this 2005 American bestseller. I suspect that the novel's protagonist, Chen Bibi, might actually be a real person, and that her ghost might have truly appeared in my dreams. Just as in the opening of *The Sunken Fish*, Amy Tan unexpectedly arrives at the "American Society for Psychical Research" while seeking shelter from the rain, and subsequently discovers Chen Bibi's ghostly account. It was also because of this strange dream from two years ago that I decided to complete the translation of this book into Chinese.

The protagonist of *The Sunken Fish* is a ghost—63-year-old Chinese-American woman, Bibi Chen, a wealthy socialite in San Francisco who runs an Oriental art shop. From the very first page of the novel, the protagonist is mysteriously dead; the police believe it to be a murder, but cannot find any clues to the real killer. Before her death, Bibi Chen planned to lead a group of friends on a tour, starting in Lijiang, China, and then into an ancient Southeast Asian country. Although she, as the tour leader, dies unexpectedly on the eve of departure, her friends still set off as planned. Bibi Chen, as a ghost, follows in her friends' footsteps, traveling to Lijiang and Southeast Asia, recounting the bizarre events that occur along the way: because they unintentionally trespassed on a temple in Yunnan, they are cursed by the village chief. After changing their itinerary and entering Southeast Asia, these American tourists are kidnapped by a tribe deep in the jungle. The reason is a boy among the tourists, whom the tribe considers their savior, "Little White Brother," whom they need to rescue them. The disappearance of these American tourists has sparked a power struggle in the West and Southeast Asia, encompassing political, journalistic, and social aspects. The tourists have become victims of media propaganda, and their fate is on the minds of people worldwide…

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Amy Tan was born in Oakland, California, in 1952. Her parents immigrated to the United States in the 1940s. Her father was born in Beijing and was a Baptist minister, while her mother was born in Shanghai.

When Amy Tan was a teenager, her father and sixteen-year-old brother died one after the other from brain tumors. Her grieving mother, believing it to be bad luck for the family, sent Amy and her brother to Switzerland. Her mother also told them a secret: she had an unhappy marriage in China and had three daughters, but had never seen them again after leaving China. This secret deeply shocked Amy, and her view of her mother completely changed.

Years later, Amy Tan returned to the United States and fell in love with writing. In 1986, her writing teacher sent several of her short stories to a literary agent. The agent was immediately captivated by Tan's stories and suggested compiling them into a book. The following year, Tan's debut novel, *The Joy Luck Club*, became a highly sought-after book by major publishers.

In 1989, *The Joy Luck Club* burst onto the scene, remaining on the *New York Times* bestseller list for forty consecutive weeks, selling millions of copies, and winning awards such as the National Book Award. Critics believe that Amy Tan created a new genre in women's literature. Several years ago, I saw the film adaptation of *The Joy Luck Club* and was deeply moved by the characters' joys and sorrows, thus concluding that Amy Tan is one of America's finest writers. "The Joy Luck Club"—a name imbued with Chinese flavor—is a gathering organized by four Chinese mothers. Amy Tan tells the story from the perspective of the daughters, recounting their deep affection for their mothers. All four mothers wanted their children to be Chinese daughters, but they found that their daughters had become true Americans. The Chinese mothers experienced the stark contrast between their homeland and a foreign land; their joys and sorrows are not only the story of all Chinese mothers but also a shared sorrow for women worldwide. As the American daughters discover their Chinese mothers' past, they also discover the indelible "Chinese genes" flowing in their own blood, imprinting a profound sense of patriotism on their mother-daughter bond.

In 1995, Amy Tan began writing *The Bonsetter's Daughter*. *The Bonsetter's Daughter* is almost a family autobiography, its central theme still the special bond between mother and daughter. In 1999, her beloved mother passed away from Alzheimer's disease, and the following year she completed this novel about her mother. Her other work, *The Kitchen God's Wife*, is also based on her mother's life story. As Amy Tan herself said, she has spent most of her life exploring the stories of her mother and family.

Born in Shanghai, Amy Tan's mother profoundly influenced her writing. From the 1920s onward, her mother continuously recorded her inner feelings in writing. In the final moments of her life, her mother said, "As women, we need to know our mothers well, and never forget that our motherland is China." This is a precious legacy her mother left to her children.

Amy Tan is a top-selling author in the United States and one of the most well-known Chinese-American writers globally. She resides in San Francisco and has diligently written for many years, donating a significant portion of her royalties to charity. Reflecting on her life, she said, "I am a daughter of Chinese mothers."

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"The Sinking Fish" is Amy Tan's latest novel, published by Random House in October 2005. It immediately topped the New York Times bestseller list upon its release and entered the top ten in its first week.

Preface to "The Sunken Fish" (Cai Jun) (2)

Amy Tan's previous works have all been set against the backdrop of Chinese-American families, with the theme invariably revolving around the mother-daughter relationship. However, *The Sunken Fish* departs significantly from her usual style. While the narrator is still a Chinese-American woman, the main characters are all white Americans (except for Vera and Jumarin), and the setting has shifted to the distant East, a mysterious ancient Southeast Asian country, and a tribe hidden in the jungle. The theme is no longer family and mother-daughter relationships, but rather the strange events, customs, and cultural clashes encountered by a group of Americans during their travels.

American critics have categorized *The Sunken Fish* as a "ghost story," naturally because the narrator, Chen Bibi, mysteriously dies at the beginning of the story. Throughout the entire book, she remains a ghost, speaking as a dead person to recount the experiences of American travelers and Chen Bibi's own inner world. Regardless of whether this style has been used before, it demonstrates Amy Tan's exploration of novel innovation. She is not merely a writer who repeats herself, but rather one who constantly seeks and experiments with new styles and stories. Tan is accustomed to first-person narration, and *The Sunken Fish* is no exception. The advantage of a ghost is that she is almost omniscient and omnipotent; the words, actions, and even thoughts of every character in the novel cannot escape the ghost's eyes and ears. This is Tan's brilliance; a typical first-person narrative would inevitably be limited by perspective, only able to narrate from one person's point of view. "Ghost fiction" breaks through all limitations, allowing the author's imagination to be maximized. "I" am not only a narrator, but also a "creator"—Amy Tan explained to the reader at the beginning that the whole book was an "unconscious creation" by Kren Lengard, and the real author was the ghost of Chen Bibi.

In terms of story content, *The Sinking Fish* is a fairly typical travel novel. From Lijiang in Yunnan, China, to an ancient kingdom in Southeast Asia, and then to a tribe in the jungle, it encompasses almost all the elements of exotic adventure novels. The novel is rich in descriptions of the local customs and people encountered during the journey, clearly showing that Amy Tan did extensive research. The book even includes a lot of recipes and plant information, so detailed that the average reader could plan their own trip based on it. I think this is one of the reasons why *The Sinking Fish* made it onto the *New York Times* bestseller list; after all, the main characters are all Americans, and English-speaking readers are the primary audience for this book. Amy Tan uses an old formula: Westerners from the civilized world enter a distant and mysterious Eastern world, and misunderstandings arising from differences in politics, race, culture, etc., lead them to encounter a series of bizarre events. This formula has been prevalent since the time of Jules Verne, and James Hilton, in *Lost Horizon*, even depicted a Shangri-La-like paradise for Westerners. However, novels written by Westerners often depict Eastern societies inaccurately, sometimes even relying on hearsay and fabrication—a distorted version of the East as imagined by Westerners. Amy Tan's exotic Eastern world, therefore, feels more authentic. Having come from the East herself, she accurately portrays the local natural environment, political landscape, and social conditions, capturing the most essential aspects of the clash between Eastern and Western cultures—a skill further enhanced by the themes of her previous works. In *The Sinking Fish*, Chen Bibi's tour group consists of successful individuals from San Francisco, representing the general tastes of the American middle class. When mainstream American thinking collides with other cultures, many amusing situations arise, including humorous moments, which Amy Tan skillfully elevates to a philosophical level.

*The Sinking Fish* is a groundbreaking work for Amy Tan, yet traces of her previous works remain. As mentioned earlier, the mother-daughter relationship is a recurring theme in Tan's work. Even though the mother-daughter relationship is no longer central in this book, there is still a mother and daughter in the tour group: the Chinese-American woman, Juma Lin, and her twelve-year-old daughter, Esme. Is this a reflection of the author herself? Undoubtedly, Juma Lin is the most perfect woman in the entire book; this single mother is brave, kind, and radiant, making the television star, Beryl, who falls deeply in love with her, pale in comparison. However, the most important mother in *The Sinking Fish* is a character who never appears in the novel—Chen Bibi's biological mother. Chen Bibi was born in Shanghai in the 1930s, the daughter of a wealthy capitalist, owning a large house on Rue Massenet. Chen Bibi's biological mother was a concubine, as her father's wife was unable to bear children, and the concubine bore the responsibility of continuing the family line. Shortly after giving birth to her youngest daughter, Bibi, the concubine died of diabetes. Bibi didn't even remember what her biological mother looked like, only knowing her through the harsh and vicious words of her stepmother, "Sweet Mom." Bibi never experienced true maternal love, making her childhood incomplete and leaving her with severe psychological trauma, forever unable to feel love—Chen Bibi considered this the greatest tragedy of her life. This most important emotion in life was only gradually experienced by her as a ghost during her travels, through the experiences of others. Therefore, the underlying theme of the entire story is the protagonist's discovery and understanding of love—a theme consistent with Amy Tan's previous works such as *The Joy Luck Club* and *The Bones' Daughter*.

At the end of *The Sunken Fish*, each character's later life is explained, a common practice in classical Chinese novels, such as *Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio*, which often details the protagonist's age at death and the extent of their happiness. Amy Tan's vivid and witty language is a consistent characteristic, and this book takes it to its extreme, creating a uniquely Tan-style dark humor. Her clever satire of travelers often brings a smile to the reader's face, which is related to the aforementioned cultural clashes and misunderstandings, as well as Tan's personality. She once organized a rock band called "Unsold Books," which included famous authors such as Stephen King and Dave Barry, and they frequently toured the United States to raise funds. The book also mentions Stephen King's works; is this a tribute from Amy Tan to her friend and master of horror literature?

Preface to "The Sunken Fish" (Cai Jun) (3)

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